Obama unites people, supporters say

“It’s not the same old thing again,” says Antoinette M. Hart, 62, of Shillington. “Change is the word.”

By Mary E. Young

Reading Eagle

Reading, PA -

The Latino couple with two young children and the black senior citizens standing with them are a testament to the ability of presidential candidate Barack Obama to bring together people of all ages and races.

That was the conclusion reached by the first people waiting in line to hear him speak Sunday at a town hall meeting in Reading High School’s Geigle Complex.

While the children slept in their strollers, the parents said they came to see Obama because they want to be able to tell their children they were part of making history.

"My mother wasn’t into politics," Torres said. "This is a new era. I want my kids to learn about politics."

Franqui said he supports Obama’s change agenda.

"I’m a believer in it, and this country needs it," he said.

Devonne L. Lindsey, 36, of Reading was first in line before 8 a.m.

"It’s important that I be here," she said. "I was one of the first ones to get my ticket, and I wanted to be one of the first to get in there and get to hear what he has to say. It’s an important day for the city."

Adrienne J. Ulrich, 17, said she came from West Cocalico Township in Lancaster County because she plans to vote for Obama in November, when she will be 18.

Obama is popular among students at Cocalico High School, she said.

"We had stickers one day in class," she said. "They were gone in about five seconds."

"It’s not the same old thing again," said Antoinette M. Hart, 62, of Shillington. "Change is the word."

James Becoat Jr., 76, of Reading was dressed and ready to go to church, but decided to get a good place in the waiting line instead.

He wants changes made, and believes Obama is the man who can do that, he said.

"Look at the price of gas over there," he said, pointing to a convenience store across the street from Reading High.

Alexis N. Hoffa, 18, a University of Pennsylvania student living in West Philadelphia, said she arrived early because she wanted to get closer to Obama than she was two days ago when he spoke at Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

"I stood in line two hours before the doors opened," she said. "We ended up standing two more hours until he arrived, and I was still a football field away. There were 35,000 people there.

"I graduated from Reading High, so that makes this very special."

Timothy S. Riegel, 45, an Exeter Township artist and a waiter at Emily’s in Yellow House, expressed his support by spending 12 hours and about $100 designing and painting a banner to greet Obama.

Campaign staff would not allow him to hang it in the gymnasium, so he laid it on the grass hill by the main steps to the high school where the 2,600 people who attended the event could see it as they moved forward in line.

Rosie Skomitz, a 61-year-old campaign volunteer from Mount Penn, looked around at the people who had shown up to see Obama."I like the ability he has to bring together such diverse people," she said. "That’s what he would bring to the leadership of this country."